Rilo Kiley's rkives

Indie darlings Rilo Kiley called an end to its decade-spanning run in 2011. For those still tuning in, the band has released rkives, an 18-track compilation full of unreleased tracks and demos.

rkives spans the band’s career and beyond. “American Wife” recalls early bedroom-pop Rilo Kiley. “Runnin’ Around” sounds like its bigger, latter days. The rich-sounding pop duet “I Remember You” could have been the band’s next direction.

Although scattered, the voice of Jenny Lewis provides the central charm to rkives from her off-record chatter to her high-climbing yelp in “It’ll Get You There.” And Lewis plays a diverse role whether it’s playing traditional piano pop in “About the Moon” or some epic Western blues in “A Town Called Luckey.”

Different directions of Rilo Kiley split from this collection, all leading to a different sound. It’s hard to tell what would have happened if the band stayed together, but it would have been interesting to hear. rkives may not be the new Rilo Kiley album, but it will do, for now.

Album: rkives

Artist: Rilo Kiley

Label: Little Record Company

Songs: 1. Let Me Back In 2. It'll Get You There 3. Runnin' Around 4. All the Drugs 5. Bury, Bury Bury Another 6. Well, You Left 7. Draggin' Around 8. I Remember You 9. Dejalo (Zondo Remix) 10. A Town Called Luckey 11. Emotional 12. American Wife 13. Patiently 14. Rest of My Life (Demo) 15. About the Moon 16. The Frug 17. Hidden Track